Looking lush and happy there, PV!! What beautiful white coneflowers! Mine never look quite as happy unfortunately and it's sure not for lack of a good, sunny spot. Mine always look bleh. My hydrangea are making up for lost time this year with lots more blooms and even one flower cluster on the stubborn one that hasn't bloomed in 5 years. Does that gorgeous double red carnation produce seeds by any chance?

Beautiful, PV! Is the white one White Swan? I WSowed some of those last year and I'm really liking them.

Karen

gardenweed - I bought the red dianthus this year, so I'm hoping to see a seed or two. I've never had luck collecting seed from dianthus though -

Karen - that's Baby White Swan; forgot where I got the seed from several years back, but it's supposed to be a shorter version of the regular White Swan.

PV

It sure is pretty.

Karen

Beautiful! I think 'White Swan' might be my favorite coneflower.

Hurrah for success! Coneflowers are one of the plants which I have ws for many years and have many varieties, though I have not done Baby White Swan.

Hydrangea 'Cityline Mars' is interesting with the color changes in the flowers.

Gorgeous as usual, PV
I have a bumper crop of coneflowers this year too.
And what a coincidence. I just saw a white one in my garden for the first time this year...a gift from a bird, probably.

You just made all things right. This is one of the plants I 'forgot' to retrieve from the gardens and have felt sadness about. Seeing that purple makes me smile and knowing that a friend has it warms my heart. :O)

That said, tiffy, I will try my darndest to get some good seeds from the plants, so you can have them back again!

Good to hear from you. Hope all is going well ...

PV

I love White Swan, but I did notice that their germination is significantly lower than the purple ones. It's well worth the effort.

My neighbor has the most amazing White Swan coneflowers and this year when I harvest the seedheads, I won't leave them where the critters can get to them. I want to grow lots more of them--they really shine in the mid-summer heat.

Very Nice indeed!!

Pvick, very pretty pictures! I hope you put the coneflowers for trade.

Beautiful coneflowers!!! Soon you'll be seeing the goldfinches too!
Joann

They are gorgeous, I saw cream colored ones at Lowes yesterday when I went to buy a clematis. I'll have to see if I can get hubs talked into buying them for me, the cream ones were so pretty! :) Love your coneflowers, thanks for sharing!

~Bright Blessings
Tina

PVick..I could send you some Bambi to take care of that beautiful Hosta! Is that Cocoa bean mulch you have in your pots? Talk about a chocolate fix that you can't eat but sure smells like downtown Hershey, Pa. to me! Do I spy a White Swan coneflower? What are those other white flowers? They look like feverfew or some type of daisy? I've seen them in the flower catalogs but their name is escaping me this morning. Anyhow they are beautiful! You cut back a lot this year it seems or am I imagining things?

pippi - no Bambis, please! Yes, that's cocoa bean mulch; it doesn't smell like chocolate to me, but then I have trouble smelling stuff. I actually bought it by accident - what I wanted was "coco" mulch (you know, the stuff from coconuts); didn't realize I had the wrong thing till I got it home. The bag is almost finished now, so next time I'll pay better attention to what I'm picking up.

That's Baby White Swan - supposed to be a dwarf version of White Swan. And yes, that's feverfew you see. They were WSed last year (seeds courtesy of of pitimpinai).

You're not imagining things, I have cut back a lot this year. I didn't WS very much this year, and I started very late too - didn't sow anything until March. Did a few veggies, and a handful of annuals (12 containers total, I believe). I finally got my tomatoes planted out about three weeks ago - and they have taken off! I planted spinach in May, but it got SO hot so quick that they all bolted before they could grow very much at all. Guess I'm growing spinach seed. But my swiss chard (luv the stuff!) is doing great! The cukes are growing like mad and lots of flowers, but I'm not seeing any fruit forming yet.

Anything else out there is from years past or were WSed last year. I'm paring back, giving stuff away because I'll be out of here next year (that's the plan) - retirement!

Can't wait!

PV

Retirement plans. Moving where? Oh, the cocoa shells do smell like chocolate, but they have a tendency to get moldy from a lot of rain. It is more costly here than regular shredded hardwood which is what we like to use. My husband has many relatives that worked and retired from Hershey..and still live in the area. One of my favorite places. His parents are buried near Hershey, only about 3 or 4 miles. We were just up mid June and will be going back for family reunion mid Sept. I'd move to that area tomorrow if he would move but he says they have a lot more snow than we get here in Md. and much colder. He was born in
Harrisburg.

I have never used Coir and have only seen it in bricks..does it come in a bag like mulch? I'll have to look for it next Spring.

Feverfew is in daisy family? As easy to grow as shasta daisies? might try it sometime. Love the shape of its flowers.